2013 RSpec brake upgrade

I love driving this car but with the hot summer here and some heavy braking in spirited driving to and from work. I decided to upgrade the front pads and rear rotors with pads. I looked around, researched companies quite a bit before I settled on Power Stop.

For the front, at this time I kept the OEM rotors but installed new pads. The front brake pads were one of the easiest I've ever done. Their almost like a quick change. See pic. It took longer to figure out where to put the jack and pull the wheel than to change the pads. I bought the Power Stop (Z23-1396) Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Pads, Front. You immediately notice the pad surface area is significantly increased compared to the OEM pads. See pic.


The rear brakes actually took longer. The tricky part for me was convincing the electric parking brake to release long enough to swap the right rear rotor. I bought the Power Stop (K5848) 1-Click Brake Kit, which included the cross drilled and slotted rotors with their Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Pads.


I followed the instruction on bedding in the brakes. I've got about 125 miles on them now and it seems like they keep getting better and better the more I drive. Certainly a big improvement when higher speed braking and normal braking.

Yeah, I am still waiting to hear a good explanation on why the front pads are cut like that... My old Civic had more pad surface area.

Keep us updated on the new pads and back rotors. I would like to know if they leave uneven deposits, aka, warp under heavy or prolonged use.

Nice! Thanks for sharing. You must've gained at least 20mm of brake pad surface area thar... gotta be a decent amount of "feel" increase.

I like my brakes BUT they do feel a lil' on the soft side for inital bite.

Keep up posted on the noise and dust produced please.

SS

I decided to go ahead and switch out the front rotors to drilled and slotted to match the back. Looks more aesthetically pleasing. I now have a couple hundreds miles on them now and boy do they dig when they get a bit of heat.

Bought the rotors from Rockauto as they we're the best priced.
CENTRIC 12751042L [Rotor] StopTech Sport; Drilled & Slotted; Performance/Improved Stopping Power Front Left
CENTRIC 12751042R [Rotor] StopTech Sport; Drilled & Slotted; Performance/Improved Stopping Power Front Right

I highly recommend them as a kit. I'm not sure how they would compare to the Brembo kit but I'm very happy with them.

I've got to replace one of the screws that holds the rotor to the hub because it was difficult to remove.

TheDr9669 said:

Yeah, I am still waiting to hear a good explanation on why the front pads are cut like that... My old Civic had more pad surface area.

Click to expand...

Less surface area, lower friction coefficient, which translates into "less bite". Your typical $50,000 sports luxury sedan buyer doesn't want touchy brakes or brakes that will plant your face into the windshield when you press the brake pedal.

84FordMan said:

Less surface area, lower friction coefficient, which translates into "less bite". Your typical $50,000 sports luxury sedan buyer doesn't want touchy brakes or brakes that will plant your face into the windshield when you press the brake pedal.

Click to expand...

Friction Coefficient remains the same, Total Friction is less. Coefficient is based on the material and the normal force, (pressure). The rest of the explanation is correct though. Face Planting BAD.
Bill